Police: Racial profiling figures skewed

Cape Girardeau police say the daily influx of commuters, not racial profiling, is the reason black drivers are 74 percent more likely to be pulled over in the city than white drivers.

Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon released the 2006 annual racial profiling report on traffic stops last month. The report is based on information provided by law enforcement agencies. 2006 census estimates were used to determine if drivers were being pulled over in proportion with the racial makeup of their communities.

Black drivers were 74 percent more likely to be pulled over than white drivers in Cape Girardeau, more than twice as likely to be pulled over in Jackson, and almost 18 times as likely to be pulled over in Scott City.

Scott City and Jackson police stopped 90 and 76 black drivers, respectively, out of 1,141 and 2,228 stops. The two cites have small black populations, which can exaggerate comparisons to the much larger numbers of white drivers stopped in the cities. In comparison, Cape Girardeau reported 1,226 stops of black drivers out of a total of 7,970 stops.

Scott City also reported that half of its stops of black drivers occurred on Interstate 55, which means some drivers were not Scott City residents.

In all three municipalities, black drivers were more likely to be searched after being stopped than white drivers.

Black drivers were almost twice as likely than whites to be searched in Cape Girardeau and Scott City and 50 percent more likely than white drivers to be searched in Jackson.

All 106 black drivers searched in Cape Girardeau after traffic stops were arrested, while 274 of the 312 white drivers searched were arrested.

Police chief Carl Kinnison said the numbers provided by the attorney general give a skewed perspective on racial profiling. Kinnison said commuter traffic into Cape Girardeau is the main reason he feels the numbers are not meaningful.

"The figure they use is static city population over the age of 16," Kinnison said. "That is not necessarily the makeup of the drivers in our city, and we really have no idea of the racial makeup of our motorist population.

"We have never racially profiled," Kinnison said. "It's unconstitutional, and it's illegal."

Asked about the nearly double likelihood of search for black drivers in Cape Girardeau and their 100 percent arrest rate, Kinnison said all searches are initiated with probable cause.

The Rev. Calvin Bird of Greater Dimension Church in Cape Girardeau said the disparity in traffic stops is cause for concern. "It certainly means that we as a community need to evaluate our justification for doing what we do," Bird said. "I still think there is a grave need for cultural training."

Bird said he was hesitant to blame the disparity on racism but that a dialogue with law enforcement about the report is a must.

Nixon spokesman John Fougere also stressed the importance of the report in starting a conversation between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.

Police must complete one hour of cultural sensitivity training annually in accordance with state law. Cpl. Ike Hammonds leads those sessions in Cape Girardeau. The sessions include discussions of officers' experiences with people of different backgrounds and cultural diversity education.

Hammonds said the formal training complements the training officers receive by interacting with diverse groups on duty.

"You don't decide who you deal with in police work," Hammonds said. "But you do have to administer the law regardless of who you're dealing with."

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